The prior art has heretofore included a variety of therapeutic splint devices for maintaining fixed positioning of a patient's foot and/or lower leg. Some of these splint devices have been found to be particularly usable in chronically ill or bedridden patients who are susceptible to a condition known as "drop foot" or "foot drop" wherein the foot hangs in a plantar-flexed position due to neuromuscular atrophy and/or lesions of the peroneal nerve. Drop foot and plantar flexion deformities have been known to develop in patients who spend substantial amounts of time lying in bed with the lower leg/ankle allowed to hang in a flaccid position. Additionally, such plantar flexion deformities are known to develop in patients who have suffered strokes or other debilitating conditions.
One mode of treating and/or preventing plantar flexion deformities of the ankle is to splint or immobilize the ankle of the flaccid leg such that a controlled degree of dorsiflexion of the foot will be maintained. Various splints and splint-like devices have been provided for accomplishing such immobilization of the ankle. Typically, these splints and splint-type devices have comprised generally L-shaped members, attachable to the lower leg and foot so as to hold the foot at an approximate 90-degree angle to the lower leg. Such splints and splint-like devices have included heel guards or heel cushions to prevent the formation of decubitus lesions on the patient's heel. Additionally, some of the prior art splint-like devices have included toe guards which extend forward of the patient's toes so that any bedding positioned over the top of the patient's foot will be held well above the patient's toes so as not to cause undue discomfort or downward pressure on the toes and/or foot. Additionally, some of the prior art devices have been configured so as to be positionable inside a slipper or shoe such that the splint device need not be removed from the patient when it is desired to don a slipper and shoe to permit the patient to sit in a chair or walk about.
In addition to being usable for the prevention and/or treatment of plantar flexion deformities in chronically ill or debilitated patients, foot splints and devices have also been used for various other therapeutic purposes including mobilization of the leg and foot to facilitate healing following traumatic injury and/or surgery.
One example of a prior art foot splint device is found in (LONARDO) U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,059.
Although various foot splints and casts have been known in the prior art, none of these prior art devices are truly optimal for use in all therapeutic situations. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for a lightweight, lower leg and foot splint device which is fully cushioned or padded, relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and which may be conveniently interconnected by way of a bracket or connector apparatus so as to hold the right and left feet of a patient a given distance apart. Such holding of the right and left feet a given distance apart will help to prevent rolling of the legs from side to side and will also hold the legs a preset distance apart, such that the hips will maintain an adducted positioning, thereby helping to avoid hip abduction deformities as are known to occur in chronically bedridden or debilitated patients.